Read This. Be a Good Communicator.

I can’t get simpler than that. It’s about creating simple messages that work.

The Ultimate Pay for Performance Song: Santa Claus is Coming to Town

I was watching this Bruce Springsteen version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town and came to a realization: It’s the ultimate pay for performance song. Look at the lyrics:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He’s making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

If you could make your pay-for–performance message this tight you’d be in like Flynn.

Merry Christmas. And happy pay for performance.

Queen Elizabeth Will Deliver Her Christmas Message on YouTube. And Your Managers are Still Having Their Emails Printed?

In a sure sign that social media has come of age, Queen Elizabeth II will deliver her annual Christmas message on YouTube. Which makes me wonder why any company lets managers get away with the “I’m old school” approach to communication. Technology is here, my friends. Put down your buggy whips. And welcome to the 21st Century.

Managers who don’t know how to use technology to communicate in the next few years are going to wake up one day “pursuing other opportunities.” If the Queen of England can do it, they can too.

HR’s Big Job? Help Managers Be Better Managers

I read this post on Wednesdays Off about a bad manager that started this way:

My boss’s style of management is, shall we say, unique? His idea of building team work is to irritate each of us until we band together as a group , united by our common goal of making a voodoo doll in his image.

You need to read the rest of the story. It just gets better.

I know we have a lot of jobs to do in HR. But one of the most important is to help managers be better managers, not look for management workarounds because “our managers aren’t up to the task.”

UPDATE: Michelle Malay Carter at Mission Minded Management has a super post about this titled Managerial Leadership: What Doesn’t Get Measured, Doesn’t Get Done.

An HR Joke for the Small Business Owner

I got this one from the Guillaume International News Service:

A man owned a small farm in Indiana. The Indiana State Wage & Hour Department claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him.

“I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them,” demanded the agent.

“Well,” replied the farmer, “there’s my farm hand who’s been with me for 3 years. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board. The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $150 per week plus free room and board. Then there’s the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally.”

“That’s the guy I want to talk to….the half-wit,” says the agent.

“That would be me,” replied the farmer.

I know the feeling. I’m an HR farmer.

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